12.22.07 – (LAA) – AA Agrees to Extend Recall Rights for 2 Years to Furloughed Members on Recall List

This is Leslie Mayo, National Communications Coordinator, with the APFA Hotline for Saturday, December 22, 2007.

Following pressure from Senator McCaskill and other Hill leaders, AA agreed to extend recall rights for two years to all furloughed members on the recall list. APFA withdraws eight STL/SLT grievances. The signed letter between the parties can be found on the APFA Web site along with a media advisory issued December 20, 2007.

American Airlines has consistently told APFA that they would not discuss this issue without opening up our Contract. Despite the years of efforts by APFA Representatives, including past discussions of settling these same grievances, it took the efforts of Senator McCaskill and her constituents to reach this successful conclusion.

In light of the recent Customs crackdown in the U.K, APFA has posted two documents for International crewmembers to review in the event you have any questions about what you can transport into the United Kingdom. Please go to APFA’s Web site and click on the link in the scrolling text on the upper right.

AA has also issued an HI6 regarding importing items into the US that originated from other countries. It is important that crewmembers declare all items received or purchased abroad on your Crew DECS form. If it could possibly be misconstrued as having been purchased outside the US, carry the receipt with you for proof of purchase. Meanwhile, U.S. Customs and U.S. Agriculture have noticed AA that they will be monitoring bags closely as crewmembers return to the U.S., so be certain to declare any questionable items and ensure you do not transport any prohibited food.

From the National Balloting Committee: Ballots have been mailed to all members for the 2008 National Officer elections. The candidate booklet is available for download at www.apfa.org, as well. Ballots are due in the designated PO Box by January 17, 2008. Please be sure to participate in this very important election.

Ballots will be counted for the position of STL Vice Chair on December 28, 2007. The candidate who receives the most votes will serve out the remainder of the term ending March 31, 2009.

Willingness to Serve notices have been mailed to IOR-based members for the position of IOR Vice Chair and are due in the designated PO Box by December 27, 2007. All members in good standing situated at these respective bases are eligible to run for the position of Vice Chair.

From the Health Department: If you are enrolled in Optional Short Term Disability (OSTD) and/or Long Term Disability (LTD), note that there is an established time limit to file your claim. You must file your claim within six months of the date of disability for OSTD and 12 months for LTD. For more information, please refer to Jetnet. If you are based in California or the New York/New Jersey area you may be eligible for State Disability and must apply directly to the state for benefits.

From the Contract Department: For those AA employees concerned about AA’s recent announcement that it is considering selling American Eagle, AA has stated that the travel agreement between the airlines should remain status quo for at least five years. In other words, no changes will be made to the current non-rev guidelines between the two airlines.

This week, AA reached a reciprocal cabin seat agreement with Comair. This agreement will take effect on January 1, 2008. You will be able to review the details of this agreement on the APFA Web site next week by clicking on Reciprocal Agreements on the left hand side of the home page.

The company will process Domestic Mutual Transfers with an effective date of January 31, 2008. Pairings will be based on transfer requests on file as of 0830 Central Time on Thursday, January 3, 2008. Members from the November and December recalls are eligible to be considered for this round of mutual transfers.

Keep in mind you must be in a flying status for the full 24-hour period (0001-2400) in order to be paired. Be sure your transfer request is up-to-date and that you have removed all requests you are no longer interested in accepting. This will allow for the maximum number of successful pairings and help a fellow Flight Attendant get to the base of their choice.

VF Solutions will close at 1400 Central Time on December 31 for any phone orders. You may order uniform items via the web until 2059 Central Time on the 31st. After that point, any unused uniform points will not be rolled over into next year. The last few days of the year tend to be the busiest for VF solutions. So plan accordingly to ensure your requests are received.

Benefit enrollment information for FAs recalled on December 18, 2007, should be mailed by AA on Wednesday, December 26. FAs will not be able to enroll in their 2007 and 2008 benefits until that date. Benefits will be retroactive to your report date. For those FAs who were recalled on either November 13 or December 18, and who were not age 50 at the time of furlough, you MUST return the prefunding premiums refunded to you at the time of furlough to AA within 90 days of your date of recall in order to continue prefunding for your retiree health benefits under the terms that existed at the time of furlough.

And as previously announced, recall notices were sent to 247 furloughed members last week and notice of acceptance must be postmarked by January 4 and received by AA no later than January 7, 2008. Training classes will begin in February with a report date of March 25th.

In Rumor Control:
Q: Can ACARS be used for FA reassignment or rescheduling?
A: Yes, but only for today’s operation. It is not to be used for coverage of open time for the following day. The ACARS messages will contain specific information regarding the reassignment or reschedule including flight number, departure time, destination and which flight attendants are affected. General messages such as “Call Crew Tracking” or “Call Crew Scheduling” are not acceptable. This is per the 1996 language of the JOC.

APFA Headquarters will be closed on Monday and Tuesday in observance of the Holiday. Headquarters will reopen on Wednesday, December 26, 2007, at 0900 Central Time.

Please remember we still have 1,200 APFA members awaiting recall. That‚s it for this week. Thank you for calling the APFA Hotline.